Competition Intensifies After Proposed Merger Fails:

Publication Date: January 1999

Publisher: Center for Studying Health System Change

Author(s): Sally Trude; Terry West; Sharrie A. McIntosh

Research Area: Health

Type: Report

Abstract:

In January 1999, a team of researchers visited Greenville, S.C., to study that community's health system, how it is changing and the impact of those changes on consumers. More than 30 leaders in the health care market were interviewed as part of the Community Tracking Study by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) and The Lewin Group. Greenville is one of 12 communities tracked by HSC every two years through site visits and surveys. Individual community reports are published for each round of site visits. The first site visit to Greenville, in January 1997, provided baseline information against which changes are being tracked. The Greenville market is defined as a five-county area, including Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson, Cherokee and Pickens counties.

Intense competition among hospital-based systems continues to characterize the Greenville health care market after a proposed merger between three major hospitals failed because of public opposition in 1997. Today, hospitals continue to compete in three historically distinct submarkets. However, some are now also targeting an area of rapid economic growth outside of their traditional specific areas. Meanwhile, hospital systems are continuing to develop the infrastructure both to accept risk and manage the physician practices they aggressively acquired. But given the tight labor market, employers remain less concerned with constraining costs, and more with offering broad provider networks. As a result, enrollment growth in health maintenance organizations (HMOs) has been slower than expected.